Dearmon Rhythm Chief 1100 Reissue, low output?

[raban]

The thread is resurrected....!

I finally didn't use the pickup and sits in a cupboard at the moment.
I put the Vintage Vibe CC single coil on the guitar, which is a Benedetto-style solid wood archtop.

Woody Sound, I just measured the resistance of the pickup now, it's 6.3 k.
So, the pickup wasn't defective. I may try it again for a different guitar someday....

[GuyBoden]

I'm really liking the sound of the Rhythm Chief 1000 Pickup in my 1959 Hofner:

[raban]

Good for you, Guy!

[Unclegrumpy]

Interesting discussion about resistance values, as Dearmond notes on their website the value of 15.40K, higher than the original measured above. Rhythm Chief 1000 Pickup – DeArmond Pickups

just sayin..

[raban]

To avoid confusion: I was talking about the RC1100 not the RC1000. The resistance of the RC1100 reissue should be 6.6k according to the website.
I don't know about the originals though....

[Unclegrumpy]

Sorry for missing that. I do see the 1100s at 6.6k.

[deacon Mark]

To my ears the 1000 reissue sounds better than the adjustable 1100 in most cases. I was just working on a guitar that had one of the 1000 reissues, and it sounded great. Every bit as good as any of the originals and my ears say so. Maybe some have some super hearing ears that go beyond but the reissues are good.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I only have one 1100 that I currently have measurements on and it is a 1970 that is 14.9k.

The vintage 1000s vary quite a bit. Here are some I have readings on 7.28k, 8.26k, 8.9k, and 11.2k. No 1000s that I’ve checked are in 15k range.

As I was looking I came across a vintage gold 1100 and it measures 15.3k.

That means the ones I have are closer to measuring the opposite of the current reissues. In my sample, it’s the 1100s that have the measurements around 15k and the 1000s are all lower than that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GuyBoden]

As stated in my earlier post, my reissue 1000 pickup has a 14.8K resistance. But, resistance is only a small factor in a pickup's sound character.

[KirkP]

If your ohmmeter was connected to the output of the control box, it appears that you measured the resistance of the volume pot, possibly with the pickup in parallel with a portion of the pot’s resistance, and the measurement would have changed with the pot setting. Were you able to directly measure the pickup’s resistance?

Also, note that a difference in resistance might indicate a change in wire gauge, but not necessarily a change in number of winds, which is arguably more important. It would be interesting to compare the inductance of impedance curves of the original vs reproductions, but that’s a bit more difficult to measure so few people do.

The pickup is right there under the control box. It’s an 1100, and yes, is being measured by plugging into the control box. The originals have a reading that is much higher than the reissues

[Woody Sound]

The thread is resurrected....!

I put the Vintage Vibe CC single coil on the guitar, which is a Benedetto-style solid wood archtop.

Very nice looking box!

[ThatRhythmMan]

If your ohmmeter was connected to the output of the control box, it appears that you measured the resistance of the volume pot, possibly with the pickup in parallel with a portion of the pot’s resistance, and the measurement would have changed with the pot setting. Were you able to directly measure the pickup’s resistance?

Also, note that a difference in resistance might indicate a change in wire gauge, but not necessarily a change in number of winds, which is arguably more important. It would be interesting to compare the inductance of impedance curves of the original vs reproductions, but that’s a bit more difficult to measure so few people do.

I tried both ways (pots in full open position when through the jack) with a couple and the readings were essentially the same. The gold 1100 in my second post didn’t have any pots wired to it and had readings similar to the other 1100 as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk